dog trainer certification

What certification do I need to be a professional dog trainer?

Sarah Filipiak

03 Apr 2017 • 4 min read

Dog training is still a largely unregulated profession in the United States. There is no single national certification that every professional dog trainer must hold before taking clients. That leaves clients with very little formal regulation to help them evaluate a trainer's education and experience.

A certification can tell clients that a trainer met a particular organization's standards. The important part is what those standards assess. A written exam, a hands-on skills assessment, and a review of behavior cases tell you different things about a professional.

If you are at the beginning of your career, certification is usually something you work toward after you have built some education and experience. The better-known credentials in this field assume that you have already spent time training dogs, working with people, or handling cases.

Certification, education, and membership are different things

These get blurred together constantly.

A certificate course documents that you completed a course of study. It may give you excellent education, but the certificate itself does not turn the course into an independent professional certification.

A professional certification or credential evaluates you against a set of standards established by the credentialing organization. Depending on the credential, that may include experience requirements, an exam, practical skills, case analysis, professional references or endorsements, continuing education, and an enforceable code of ethics.

A professional membership means you belong to an organization. Membership may give you access to education, professional resources, networking, discounts, directories, or other benefits. Membership alone does not necessarily mean the organization has evaluated your training knowledge or professional skill.

That distinction is especially important with APDT International. APDT offers membership and education, including certificate courses, and states plainly that its certificate courses do not certify dog trainers.

If you are new to professional dog training, start with the foundation

Some respected credentials are designed for trainers who are already working.

For example, the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers requires CPDT-KA applicants to document at least 300 hours of dog-training experience within the previous three years before they sit for the knowledge exam. Its CPDT-KSA credential adds a hands-on skills assessment for trainers who already hold the CPDT-KA.

The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants describes its Accredited Dog Trainer credential as an option for trainers with at least two years of experience. Its Certified Dog Behavior Consultant credential is intended for professionals with at least three years of experience working with complex behavior cases.

Those requirements make sense. Certification is easier to interpret when it evaluates knowledge or judgment that has already been used in real training work.

If you are still trying to understand what professional dog training requires, Dog Training 101: What Every Trainer Needs to Know is the APDT-hosted entry-level certificate course I teach for people building that foundation. It covers dog-training principles alongside professional responsibilities, credentialing paths, scope, and the human side of training. APDT manages the course as education rather than professional certification.

What do the major credentials assess?

You do not need to collect every set of initials available. It helps to understand what a credential was designed to evaluate.

The CCPDT is an independent certification organization rather than a training school. The CPDT-KA assesses knowledge and requires prior training experience. The CPDT-KSA adds an assessment of hands-on training and instruction skills. The CBCC-KA is a separate credential for canine behavior consultants. CCPDT certificants agree to its professional standards and maintain their credentials through continuing education or other recertification requirements.

The IAABC combines professional membership with a separate credentialing process. Supporting membership does not confer an IAABC training or behavior credential. The Accredited Dog Trainer and Certified Dog Behavior Consultant credentials require applicants to demonstrate prior experience, and IAABC describes its credentialing exams as writing-intensive evaluations that include case studies, scenario responses, documentation of applied work, and professional endorsements. Credentialed members also have continuing-education requirements.

APDT International is a professional membership and education organization. It does not certify dog trainers. APDT education and an independent professional credential are different pieces of professional development.

How should you evaluate a school, course, or credential?

The name of the program tells you very little by itself. Look closely at what you will learn and what anyone has to demonstrate before receiving the credential or certificate.

I check learning opportunities by asking:

Who teaches the material, and what experience do they have with the kind of work you hope to do?
What does the program assess: attendance, a written exam, hands-on training, client instruction, case reports, professional references, or some combination?
How much opportunity will you have to practice and receive feedback?
If it is a professional credential, how much experience is required before you can apply?
Does the organization require continuing education?
Can clients verify a professional's credential status?
Does the organization publish current ethics or standards of practice, and is there a process for complaints or disciplinary action?
Does the program clearly distinguish a course-completion certificate from an independent professional certification?

Training philosophies and professional standards deserve the same scrutiny. Read the current documents rather than relying on an old summary of what an organization supposedly believes. APDT publishes its current training methodologies, IAABC publishes its current Standards of Practice, and CCPDT publishes its ethics and professional-conduct policies.

Does certification mean you are qualified for every case?

No credential covers every kind of dog-training or behavior work.

Teaching manners, coaching a puppy class, preparing a sport dog, and consulting on serious aggression require overlapping knowledge, but they also call for different experience. A trainer can hold a respected credential and still encounter a case that falls outside their current competence.

Behavior-consulting credentials can tell you that the professional has been evaluated specifically in that area. They still do not replace case experience, continuing education, professional consultation, or the judgment to involve a veterinarian or refer a case when needed.

A credential tells you what was assessed. Your own scope comes from the combination of education, supervised or mentored experience, case history, continuing study, and the kind of work you can perform competently.

So which certification should you pursue?

Start with the kind of work you want to do and where you are in your education.

If you are still learning the profession, focus on foundational education, hands-on experience, feedback, and understanding your scope. Dog Training 101 is designed for that stage.

Once you have professional experience, compare credential requirements with the work you are already doing. Look at what each credential evaluates, what experience it expects, what professional standards come with it, and whether that assessment fits the services you plan to offer.

If you can explain what your credential assessed, what experience you brought to it, and where your scope ends, those letters are giving clients information they can use.